Design coding for coordinated garment sets

ABSTRACT

Coordinated sets of wearing apparel wherein identical identifying indicia are applied to each garment of the set in order to facilitate selection of the appropriate matching garment.

United States Patent Mazzenga Dec. 4, 1973 DESIGN CODING FOR COORDINATEDGARMENT SETS Inventor: Anthony Mazzenga, Commaek,

Assignee: Garan, Incorporated, New York,

Filed: Sept. 18, 1972 Appl. No.: 290,274

u.s. Cl. 2/80 Int. Cl A4ld 11/00 Field of Search 2/80, 239, 1, 75; 36/25R, 2.5 Y, 2.5 E, 2.5 F, 9 R, 9 A, 11, 1; 35/56, 57

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,258,858 7/1966 Cariffe35/57 X R 2,703,404 3/1955 Lawson 2/80 X R Primary Examiner-H. HamptonHunter AttorneyMaxwell James et al.

[57] ABSTRACT Coordinated sets of wearing apparel wherein identicalidentifying indicia are applied to each garment of the set in order tofacilitate selection of the appropriate matching garment.

5 Claims, 2 Drawing Figures PATENTEDUEC 4 1915 l DESIGN CODING FORCOORDINATED GARMENT SETS This invention relates to a device fordesignating matching garments of a coordinated set of wearing apparel.

A substantial amount of childrens clothing is available in the form ofcoordinated sets such, for example,

as matching shirts and pants and matching three-piece outfits which mayinclude shirts, pants and vests or sweaters. These garments aregenerally coordinated on the basis of color and pattern or design.Children, however, frequently encounter difficulty in selecting. theappropriate matching garments of a coordinated set as a result of theirinexperience in discerning the minor differences which may distinguishthe color, pattern and design of the respective garments. This can be afrustrating experience for a child and, as a result, may discourageunsupervised clothing selection.

It is, therefore, the primary object of this invention to providecoordinated sets of wearing apparel wherein the matching garmentsthereof are readily identifiable to children.

It is a further object of the invention to provide a device whichenables children to readily determine the matching garments of acoordinated set of wearing apparel. I

It is still a further object to provide garment identifying indiciawhich are decorative, attractive and simple in design.

These objectives are achieved in accordance with the present inventionby applying identical identifying indicia to each article of acoordinated garment set. Thus, a child faced with the problem ofselecting the appropriate matching garments of a set need merely referto the identifying indicia present thereon and select those garmentswhich exhibit identical indicia. Furthermore, the indicia are chosen andapplied in such a manner as to contribute to the attractiveness ofthegar'ment to which they are affixed. 1

To thenaccomplishn'ient of the above, the present invention relates tocoordinated garment sets having identifying indicia on the individualpieces thereof as defined in the appended claims and as described inthis specification,'taken together with the accompanying drawings, inwhich: I i I I FIG. 1 is a front plan view of a typical coordinatedgarment set of this invention; and

FIG. 2 is a front plan view depicting four articles of wearing apparelprior to the selection, on' the basis of the affixed indicia, of theappropriate matched garments. 4

The coordinated sets which are applicable to this invention include awide variety of garments which may be combined in sets comprisinggarments of at least two generically different classes of wearingapparel, each generic class in the set being represented by only onegarment. Among such generic classes are shirts, blouses, pants, skirts,sweaters, vests, jackets, socks, pajama tops, pajama bottoms, and thelike. These garments may be coordinated solely on the basis of color oron the basis of combined color and pattern or design. Thus, a matchingpair of red garments is indicative of a color coordinated set while amatching pair of white and green vertically striped garments isindicative of a color-design coordinated set. Color coordination mayalso consist of a solid colored garment combined with an apppropriatelymatching multi-colored garment.

Likewise, the identifying indicia which are applied to these garmentsmay be selected from a virtually unlimited number of designs. Among suchdesigns are stylized animal configurations, geometric shapes, toyconfigurations, and the like. It is preferred that each of these designsbe decorative and attractive so as to augment the appearance of thegarment set. It is also preferred that the design be simple and distinctso as to facilitate recognition of the design and to avoid the situationwhere identification of the corresponding indicia is more difficult thatthe matching of the coordinated garments. It should be noted thatstylized animal configurations are particularly appropriate for use onchildrens clothing and thus are preferred for purposes of thisinvention.

The identifying indicia can be prepared from a wide variety of textilematerials which are'either identical or complementary to the garmentmaterial. These indicia can then be applied to the garment by means ofany effective technique whose use is desired by the practitioner. Sewingisthe preferred method inasmuch as it provides the greatest degree ofpermanence by resisting the tendency of normal wear and tear and/orlaundering to detach the indicia. Adhesive techniques are also availablesuch as with the use of hot melt or pressure sensitive adhesives. I-lotmelts offer the advantage of being in a dry, non-tacky state whenpresent on the indicia, thereby facilitating storage and handling priorto application. Thereafter, the adhesive coated surface need merely beplaced on the garment and have heat and pressure applied thereto, theheat tackifying the adhesive and the pressure affixing the indicia tothe surface of the garment.

The indicia are preferably affixed to the outer surface of the garmentso as to serve both identifying and decorative functions. They may,however, be affixed to the inside of the garment or be present on alabel which is sewn into the garment. The presence of the indicia on alabel is less desirable, however, inasmuch as there is the tendency forsuch labels to be separated from the garment, thereby nullifying theprimary objective of this invention. i

By way of illustration, FIG. 1 depicts a typical coordinated garment'setof this invention. Thus, shirt A'and short pants B comprise acolor-coordinated set of garments. Indicia l0, represented in thisinstance by an emblem in the form of a hippopotamus, is sewn to theouter surface of shirt A and short pants B. The presence of theidentical indicia' 10 on each of the garments thus identifies thematching garments of the coordinated set.

In use, a child attempting to select the appropriate matching garmentswill be faced by the dilemma depicted in FIG. 2. Thus, shirts C and Eand pants D and F are present in his drawer but he is in doubt as towhich of these are the appropriate matching garments. Visual inspectionof the garments quickly reveals the presence of the indentical monkeyemblem 12 on shirt C and pants D and the presence of the identical lionemblem on shirt E and pants F. The child is now able to select thematching garments of each coordinated set. In this manner, the child canselect his own clothes without the supervision of an older person.

While the invention has been described in terms of the specificembodiments herein, it should be apparent at least two genericallydifferent articles of wearing ap- 3 p p p a 4 that variations may bedeveloped without departing "garment set. p p p from the'spirit or scopeof the invention. 1 i f 2.,The garment set of claim 1, wherein saididentify-r I claim: a I I ing indicia are animal designs. I l. Aplurality of sets of garmentaeach set comprising 1 parel which areappearance-coordinated to be worn together, articles of each set havingan appearance which is not compatible with the appearance of articlesofan- 7 other set, the articles of each sethaving substantially shmanda ofpants i ment. 7

3,;The garment setof claim; 1, whereinqsaid identify I ,ing'indicia areaffixed to thezoutei': surface of theigar i 4.The garment set of claim1', which consists of a identical indicia affixed thereto, the indiciaof each set 10 j The'garmem Set of claim 5' wherein Said Shirt beingdifferent from the indicia of each other set; said pair of pants areof-identicalcolor. thereby to designate the articles appropriate to each

1. A plurality of sets of garments, each set comprising at least twogenerically different articles of wearing apparel which areappearance-coordinated to be worn together, articles of each set havingan appearance which is not compatible with the appearance of articles ofanother set, the articles of each set having substantially identicalindicia affixed thereto, the indicia of each set being different fromthe indicia of each other set, thereby to designate the articlesappropriate to each garment set.
 2. The garment set of claim 1, whereinsaid identifying indicia are animal designs.
 3. The garment set oF claim1, wherein said identifying indicia are affixed to the outer surface ofthe garment.
 4. The garment set of claim 1, which consists of a shirtand a pair of pants.
 5. The garment set of claim 4, wherein said shirtand said pair of pants are of identical color.